Kids in the summer

At our house, we have a lot of perennial gardens.  They are filled with lilies, primrose, black eyed Susan's, purple cornflowers, and lots of other things that I haven't identified.  What we're missing is a place to plant the kids' favorite flowers... the annual garden!

So, I took Sydney with me to flower shop.  We picked out petunias (tuna flowers), marigolds, and pansies.  All in shades of purple and orange.  Now, where to plant them??

When the electricians came, we moved the park bench that was in the front of the house and the bricks that it was sitting on.  This left a sunken dirt spot in the middle of the yard.  Matthew spotted it, and said "why not here Mom?"

It's a shady spot, but will work nicely for what they had planned.  So, they went to work digging and stuffing.  In the end, they ended up with a pretty garden.  I can't wait until they flowers grow out and fill in the spaces.  They are very proud of their little spot!

Kitchen update...

I believe I posted before on how we purchased the dishwasher and microwave for our new kitchen.  Lately, we spoke with a cabinet maker, and had a quote done for having custom cabinets made.  STICKER SHOCK is an understatement.  So, we decided to do it ourselves.

With Aaron traveling to Brazil every few weeks, this job isn't going to get done as soon as I would like it. 

That doesn't mean I am going to stop shopping and finding those magic items I want.  It may actually be better this way, so we can make the purchases without going broke.  One of those magic items is my sink.  If we had to purchase all at once, I would have had to settle for a cheap, boring stainless steel sink.  Don't get me wrong, they are nice, but not in my DREAM kitchen.  :)  So, I found a beauitful FIRECLAY sink.  It was a few more dollars than the stainless steel, but in my opinion, worth every penny.  What do you think?

Little Cedar Berry Farms

The original idea for the name of our farm, was to have a PYO strawberry farm.  After studying and thinking, we decided that having a small orchard would be more fun for us.  We ordered trees, bushes, and vines online, and started digging when they arrived.

So far, we have catawba grapes, elderberries, pears, peaches, tart cherries, cranberries, apples, crabapples, and blueberries planted.  To help the watering, we drilled a hole about 2 inches from the bottom in a 5 gallon bucket, and placed one beside each tree.  Then, just fill the bucket, and move to the next tree.  It really is quite the site to see.

Here's the pear trees right after we got them in the ground. 

Potatoes and onions springing up nicely.

Our catawba grapes

Rows and rows of buckets?  Don't worry, there is a tree or shrub next to each of those buckets.

An early spring then the late frost has done some damage to all our little trees.  The established trees all bloomed early, too, and I'm afraid we won't have much of a harvest from them them year.  Cross your fingers that we at least get something!

Getting POWER!

OK, so we're not actually getting power, but changing the way it comes to the house.  Yesterday, MidAmerica came out to change the pole that sends it to the house. 

It really was quite the site as they pulled the old, dilapidated post out of the ground, drilled the new hole, and placed the new shiny post into the ground.  The electricity to the house never flickered once.

As you can see, Sawyer was enjoying watching the men work.  Hopefully, he has as much fun today, as today is when the BIG work happens.   MidAmerica will be burying the cable that comes from the bright, shiny new pole to the house, and then we have an electrician coming to bury it from the house to the barn and garage.  Oh can hardly wait!  No electricity for the rest of the day, and possibly tomorrow, too.

In the meantime, I keep knitting.  I'm so enjoying the socks.  I have a fire red pair on the needles right now.  Matthew claimed them as his.  I think if I bound them off right now (not even to the heel yet) he would be happy.

No kitchen yet.  We've talked with a cabinet maker, and was told "all or nothing" as for building goes.  We were planning just one at a time, to keep the debt low, but with that attitude, I guess we'll go to Menard's and buy stock cabinets!  I am studying how to do concrete countertops though.  That would be a DREAM!

Socks

My new passion is knitting. I also found knitting socks to be fun and rewarding. I have been using a technique called "Magic Loop." and also knitting 2 at a time on that loop. It is rewarding, because I end up with 2 identical socks and I don't have to fight with those nasty Double Pointed Needles. (they are only nasty to me!)

Here is the latest pair I knitted for my mother in law. The pattern is called "Graphic" from Toe Up--Two at a Time by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the magic loop method. These socks are made with Paton's Kroy FX sock yarn, with a color called "Clover" They are big on me, so I'm hoping they will fit Pam. She said her feet are a bit larger than mine. Keep your--toes--crossed. :)

Mr. Bathroom: Welcome to 2012...

Remember the '70's? Everything was bright, psychodellic. Glass bunches of grapes sat on every coffee table in America.

Our bathroom was modeled in the 70's I posted earlier the newspaper and carpet we found when we stripped the floor up and laid new tiles down. Now, it's time for the walls. Bright orange and yellow flowers sparkle and make the room look so dated.

I got out the primer paint and started covering those orange and yellow flowers. Oh, so white, but looking so much calmer. Today, I dropped the baby off at the babysitters so I could work undisturbed. I visited my favorite paint store (Sherwin Williams) and brought home a can of bathroom suitable paint in the color "Queen Anne's Lace." It took me over an hour to "cut in" all the corners, but already it was looking better. Then, another hour later, I had a very soft green wall and ceiling.

I have a darker color green that I plan on using on the woodwork and cabinet. I think I'll wait until Aaron gets back from his trip--or next week when the kids are home for spring break. That will take a bit more work, as there is 12 layers of paint, and I'm sure there is lead paint involved somewhere.

At least I can shower in peace now, and not feel that I should be putting on my go go boots. :) Oh, and the globe light will eventually have to go, too. That's next on my list of bathroom stuff to do.

HOUSE Pictures

Finally, at least one photo of our home. Loving this house, and all it has to offer. Sure, there are some things that need to be fixed or replaced, but it's good enough to call home.

This summer is going to be a busy one. I have several fruit trees, grape vines, and berry bushes on order. So on top of the garden, and remodeling the house kitchen, and building a canning one (in the barn) we are going to barely have time to breathe.

Speaking of kitchen remodel. I have my new dishwasher and microwave sitting on my back porch waiting for us to get started. I'm having a lot of fun dreaming and sketching what we are going to do.